


For You

by The_Lich_Queen



Category: One Piece
Genre: Other, genderbender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25105993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lich_Queen/pseuds/The_Lich_Queen
Relationships: Luffy/Ace
Comments: 44
Kudos: 20





	1. Awake

Monkey D Luffy leaned his right hand on the wall, the only thing that kept him from falling and steady on his feet as he made his way for the long metal corridor. He was panting heavily, which forced him to stop and rest his whole right side against the cold wall; he grits his teeth hard and then takes in a deep breath, pushing himself up he continues on his way.

Behind him was another man, moving with Luffy's slow pace.

This man was the pirate captain Law, who had saved the rubberman's life after the War of the Best ended.

The straw hat captain could feel the other man's eyes burning into his back. But he cared little for this, right there and then Luffy only wanted to do one thing. Get to the ship that was carrying his brother.

"Your brother is resting," Law's voice came breaking the silence between them, "And you are only making your recovery worsen," He came forward and stood beside the other pirate captain staring straight ahead while Luffy rested against the wall again, huffing and puffing, "You are in no shape to be going anywhere," He continued still looking ahead to them, "And we are underwater right now, even _if_ you made it to the pressure hull you can not get out."

"... _ace_..." Luffy called out softly, wanting to see his brother again, while not being held my marines. His shoulder smacked on the wall, then he slowly slid down, not having to energy to keep himself up anymore.

Luffy fell into unconsciousness.

Law let out a loud sigh, the rubberman had done a lot of damage when he first woke up; which put the whole submarine under the risk of sinking. Thankfully his crew managed to get everything in order and was now checking their air to see how much to the smoke was floating around, if it was a high amount then they would have no choice other to resurface.

Law reached down and grabbed a rubbery arm and placed it around his neck, then he held tightly around the other man's waist and half carried half dragged him back down the corridor, to place him in a new bed.

Luffy shoot up in bed and gripped the covers that enclosed him, he slowly glanced around the metal room. Trying to remember where he was, "Ace..." Luffy whispered as he kicked the covers off of him and leaning back on his elbows he swung his legs around, placing his feet on a cold floor.

"Ah!" Someone cried out, causing Luffy to look up. "I'm sorry..." A white bear in a yellow overall said as it walked backward out of the room while bowing its head at him. Luffy just blinked as the open door seemed to close on its own.

Luffy continued to blink for a moment, before standing; it was a lot easier than the first time he woke up.

"I feel...naked..." Luffy said aloud as he reached and ran a hand through his hair, he then moved forward searching, he grins slightly when he spotted it. His treasured and beloved hat sat on a desk near the door, he hurried over and placed it where it lived, upon his head. "That's better!" Luffy declared as his grin widen, "Now to find Ace!"

"How about putting some clothes on first?" A now familiar voice came from the doorway, Luffy turned to see Law standing there, frowning at the fully naked rubberman, "You were not going to walk around my ship like that, were you?"

Luffy glanced first at the open door, he could not remember hearing it open and then down at himself. Apart from his bandages and his hat, he was indeed very naked. He placed his hands on his hips and gave Law a large grin, "Why not? You cut up my clothes when you treated me, so I got nothing!"

Law said nothing, instead, he pointed to the same desk where Luffy's hat was; there was a pile of clothing along with a pair of sandals.

"Put those on and follow me," Law said as he turned to the doorway and left the room, saying as he went "I'll take you to where..." Law stopped and paused what he was saying, clearing thinking, "..your brother is..." He said the last part oddly and completely left Luffy along as the door closed.


	2. Ace

Monkey D Luffy blinked down at his black short trousers, which he rolled up and dark blue vest; they were similar to the clothes he wore at Sabaody Archipelag.

Luffy walked behind Law who leads him towards one of Whitebeard's whale-like ships; while he crossed the plank that connected the two ships together, he gazed up to the blue sky above. It had been a while since he saw it, being under the water for over two weeks was _boring_ ; he did not know how anyone could sail for such a long time underwater and it being able to see the beautiful sea.

But this time they did not have much of a choice in the matter, the marines army had been hunting them all down ever since the gotten away. The marines were not pleased about letting the Pirate King's son get away easily.

Luffy stared at the barely alive old man known as the strongest in the world, he sat on a giant seat in the middle of the main deck.

"Old MAN!" Luffy called up to Whitebeard as he neared, waving his arm above his head wildly. He let out a laugh as Whitebeard opened his tired eyes and stared down at the youth. On seeing Luffy, he grinned and lifted up a hand slightly in greeting.

"Pops can't talk much, yoi." A voice came from Luffy's right and he smiles as he saw Marco coming towards him. The blonde looked very amused about something. "I'm guessing you want to see your-" Someone slapped a hand over Marco's mouth; Marco did not care, instead he appeared to be smiling more.

Luffy blinked towards the woman who was glaring at Marco; she had shoulder weight hair that parted in the middle, lazy eyes that were seemed to be silently telling the blonde he was dead meat, across her cheeks were very familiar freckles.

She was dressed in black shorts that came mid-thigh, which was held up by an orange belt, a second belt loosely wrapped around her middle with a silver buckle with the letter 'A' on it. A red beaded necklace hung around her neck...a tattoo with the letters ASCE ran down her left arm.

Luffy felt an odd chill running through him, as he looked upon this woman. His eyes widen quickly, too quick for anyone to notice. IT was impossible, there was no way this could be true.

"Why is she allowed to walk around naked but I'm not?!" Was the first thing Luffy asked as he pointed to the small exposed breasts. The woman looked down at herself and quickly removed the hand from Marco's mouth and tried to cover the chest.

Marco turned away and laughed behind his hand.

"Luffy..." The woman said as she walked closer to him, wanting to say something but her mouth opened and closed.

"Where is Ace?" Luffy asked as he glanced around the deck, turning his whole body. "Is he asleep?" Whitebeard above coughs as he tried to laugh, causing Luffy to frown up at him, "You know where Ace is old man?" The old pirate showed his teeth at him as he grins down.

Luffy blinked as he turned to the rest of the crew, they all seemed to be laughing silently.

"Luffy...I..." The woman said as she came next to him, Luffy turned to look at her, "I am...I can't say it!" The woman glared and turned her head away.

"Say it!" The crew cheered with one big voice.

"Law never told you what happens to your brother..." The woman said as she looked back at Luffy.

"He told me enough," Luffy said to the woman with a grin, "He told me Ace is alive and well!"

"Luffy...I am your brother..." Ace said at last as she lowed her head slightly, then fast she added; "You see there was this big-headed bushy hair man, who I made mad and-" Luffy raised his hand to Ace, causing her to draw back in surprise.

Then Luffy did something that surprised Ace even more; he took off his vest and came overthrowing it over Ace's shoulders.

"Ace." Luffy said in a deadly voice as he moved away, "I understand. Where is he?"

"Who? Me?" Ace asked pointed to himself... sorry _herself_ , "I'm Ace."

"No. I mean Iva-chan." Luffy said as he slammed his fist into his palm, "I going to punch him so hard his children will be born bruised." Luffy raged was coming off him in waves, " _ **NO ONE TAKES AWAY MY BROTHER'S MANHOOD AND GETS AWAY WITH IT**_!" He screamed, then as sudden as the rage came it was gone, leaving a blinking young man behind. "By the way... _where_ is Iva-chan?"


	3. Two Years Later

Dark clouds heavy with rain gathered over the island. The islanders below began to close their stores knowing that it was going to be a big one. They hurried to the safe warm homes, that were bolted down with powerful metal beams and knocked themselves in.

In the docklands the people who worked there guided ships and boats into large bolted warehouses, that had docks without. Pirates were welcome also, the islanders knew of the weather and did not any one to die because of it. It was bad for business, even from a pirate dying could damage their safe image build for themselves

Monkey D Luffy blinked at the clouds above, this was the last time he would see the sky until the storm passed. The large iron double doors slowly closed in, causing the water crashed against the ship of Sunny into it was firmly shut. The waters under Sunny calmed.

"Luffy!" Nami's voice called from below and he turned to her, "You coming? Or are you going to stay on Sunny for the day?"

Luffy blinked at her, his eyes getting used to the new light inside the warehouse. He was still getting used to her hair being so long, not that it mattered. Smiling he glanced towards his ship, before walking down the plank to the docks. They had to leave Sunny behind, but they were allowed to see their ship if the people think it is safe enough to go back on the surface.

"Franky?" Luffy asked as he saw that his shipwright was still aboard. "Are you coming?"

"Naaaaaa!" Franky said loudly as he gave his captain a little pose, "I talked to the boss of this warehouse. Since he does not see me as human, I allowed him to stay!" Franky stood normally and lifted his sunglasses, "You lot go and enjoy yourself, I'll make sure Sunny keeps safe! Owww!" He cried out as he suddenly posed with arms in the air.

Luffy grinned slowly and then laughed, running down the plank he jumped onto the metal docks, feeling a lot better. The docks were padded all away around the ship, but it was still metal that could build Sunny if these storms were as bad as the islanders claimed them to be.

Luffy stared around and saw that his crew there, waving at Franky and wishing him well. He bounced over and joined them in waving and cheering up to the cyborg, who was posing in different ways at their voices.

"We have a baby den-den," Nami said as she held the tiny snail up to her captain, "If anything happens, Franky will inform us."

"Nami..." Luffy said as he blinked at the snail and pointed it before, walking towards the underground entrance with the others, "You said this should last a day, right?"

"That's right," Nami said with a smile as she readjusted the strap of the bag she was carrying on her shoulder, "But it is going to be rough, I'm not surprised that these people made this city underground."

Luffy hummed loudly as he came to the stairwell; blinking he stared in amazement as more and more pirates and travellers joined up with them on this level. Grinning he, Usopp, and Chopper went running ahead laughing aloud. Down and down they went, they could hear the rest of their crew shouting at them to keep together so that they could sign in together. But still, they ran down.

On reaching the bottom the three glanced around in excitement, pirates were being taken away from the normal travller and lead to another part of the city. A place where the only pirate lived while being there. Luffy blinked at the long line, and his face fell knowing that he too would have to wait there. It was then he saw other pirates just walking through the gates without signing in.

"Why can they just walk passed?" Luffy asked aloud and turned to Usopp who shook his head, saying that he did not know.

"That is because these pirate has already signed in." A voice said from behind, a voice that Luffy had not heard for two years.

"ACE!" Luffy shouted out happily as he turned around, Usopp and Chopper did the same both smiling as they wanted to meet the older brother again. The rest the Straw-Hat Pirates came over hearing Luffy's voice, they all froze at the sight of 'Ace', " _Why the hell are you still a woman?_ " Luffy asked with a deep frown.


	4. Think About It

The Straw-Hat Pirates sat around a large rounded table in the bar, drinking as they met new people from Ace's crew. Luffy drank his drink slowly, ice clicked together as the liquid vanished up the straw. He kept an eye on his brother...or sister whenever he, she, it wanted to be known as.

Luffy frowned as he turned his glass and opening his mouth wide letting the ice fall in, he crunched down loudly; he was feeling annoyed with Ace. She had two years to become a man again that chosen to 'see how long he/she can last as a woman' because of a bet.

He glanced over at his bro- ..sister and frowned at the attention she was getting, her breast had filled out a little, and her hair was slightly longer; she wore a red tank top and black shorts which had red lines running down the sides. The same beaded necklace was around her neck, yet it was wrapped doubly around.

Ace turned suddenly and saw Luffy staring, they looked at each other blankly for a moment before someone came beside her and started talking. Ace being polite answered nicely.

" _Why are you glaring so much_?" Nami said softly in Luffy's ears, moving so close that she was almost sitting on his lap, " _What so bad about being a woman_?"

"Nothing." Luffy replied as he turned Nami's way and head-butted her gently, "My big brother just ain't one."

" _Mmmm~ Oooo~_ " Nami hummed as she leaned against the rubbery forehead some more, their eyes never leaving each other, " _It sounds to me that you do_."

" _I don't_." Luffy said back firmly, " _If your sister suddenly came up to you as a man, what would you do_?"

" _Nojiko_?" Nami asked as she blinked at the question, and then thought about this. Luffy also seemed to be thinking about his own words, as an image of Nami's sister as a man popped into his head.

The pair stared at each other, suddenly the pair broke into a fit of giggles; for some reason a male Nojiko was funny.

Luffy's giggle was broken off as he felt someone grabbed the back of his neck and pull him away from Nami. Nami slipped forward headfirst into Luffy's lap, and there she blinked in surprise at the unexpected movement.

Nami jumped up quickly and saw Ace glaring at her. The firewoman was standing behind him and had one hand covering over Luffy's eyes, allowing her to glare fully at the navigator. The rubberman reached up and pulled the hand off, the face changed to one of laugher.

"Luffy," Ace said with a grin, as she leaned on Luffy's shoulder with crossed arms. "What you two talking about so closely? You both sound like you are having a great time, care to share?"

"Nothing to do with you!" Luffy declared with a smile, thinking about Nami's sister and completely forgotten how it came to be about that. Nami laughed slightly, knowing what happened there; this, however, gave her a quick glare from Ace. One that was too fast for Luffy to notice.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you want to go play with me once you are settled in?" Ace asked with a bright smile as she looked at Luffy, "After the war, we didn't have much time together before Rayleigh took you away."

"That sounds like fun!" Luffy said as he grinned boldly at her, "Maybe after we can get the name of Iva-chan's island!"

"Not yet!" Ace said as she sat on the table and held one leg up and held it there, "If I last another year, I'm going to get a mountain load of Belis!"

"A mountain load!" Nami suddenly spoke up with great interest, "How much are we talking about?"

"Enough for me and Luffy to be rich for the rest of our lives!" Ace said with a smirked and she turned to her younger brother, "Luffy I will get you some of the best meat there is!"

Luffy drooled at the thought, "WOW! Really Ace?!" He asked as different forms of meat flashed through his mind's eyes.

"Yeah..." Ace said suddenly her voice becomes low, even sad for some unknown reason; this was not lost to Nami who was listening closely. "So look forward to it, Luffy."

"YES!" Luffy shouted as he jumped out of his seat and threw his arms over Ace's neck, not seeing the heated stares he was getting from some males doing this action. Luffy laughed loudly as he hugged his beloved bro- sister!


	5. NAMI!

The underground city was illuminated by a giant crystal-like rock, which hung from the ceiling of the cave. It glowed an eerily orange which seemed caused the shadows of the buildings and other things, to move in a strange manner.

Luffy grinned at a tree's shadow, it looked like many little bugs trying to get back of dark water. He turned to see Ace, to say what he thought it looked like. He blinked as he saw her head disappearing down the stairs.

Luffy pouted as he straightens himself, he hurried down the stone path and gazed down as he reached the big stone stairs. Luffy glanced up and he smiled at the landscape before him; he was on a hill high above the city on the outskirts, and see from this view was amazing.

On looking down he saw Ace had seated herself a few steps below him, grinning he made his down and sat directly behind his sister. He then wrapped his legs around her middle and flopped his arms over her shoulder, letting his chin rest on her right shoulder close to her neck.

Ace did not seem to mind, indeed she leaned back and placed the back of her head of his left shoulder, eyes closed.

"Its been a strange two years..." Ace said not opening her eyes, "Nothing is the same as it was before..."

"Only because you're a girl." Luffy replied as he stared at the interesting looking city, "Of course it weird, you have to sit down every time you want a-"

"Luffy." Ace warned lightly, frowning slightly, "Please don't start. We had a nice day out. Good food too...maybe we could go there away before we leave...er...disguised this time..."

"Shishishishi~" Luffy snickered into her neck and rubbed his nose there, "Yeah, eating and running for old times sake was a great idea! I loved the shock on faces when we turned and thanked them for the food, then ran again!"

Ace laughed softy at this, they played the whole day together and fought a couple of times. Even against other people, anyone who dared attack mainly.

"Yeah...Luffy remember when you asked me to join your crew?" Ace asked still not opening her eyes, she lean face towards him though.

"Yeah." Luffy answered as he turned his eyes to the city, thinking he saw lightning coming from one of the buildings right below where they were.

"I'm thinking about coming with you..." Ace said as she, at last, opened her eyes and looked at Luffy's face. "Almost losing two years ago and me almost dying also, made me rethink a few things and-"

Luffy turned his sister's voice out, odd lightning came from the building again. 'Lightning does not strike in the same place twice,' He thought '...nor does it comes from inside buildings! Unless..'

"-what you do think Luffy, can it work?" Ace finished somewhere during her speech she had turned her head away and was staring at the trees that lined up and down the stairs.

"NAMI!" Luffy screamed suddenly as he jumped up and began running down the steps, causing his sister to fall backward and smack her head on the step behind.


	6. Are You Sure?

Ace blinked in shock and watched her little brother run out of sight, sighing she sat up and placed her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her hand. From where Ace sat she could see Luffy running into a building, a few moments later half the wall broken and crumbled to the ground. Ace smiled as she looked at the level of floors in the building, people higher up were staring out and down.

Then he saw movement, as someone came running away from the wrecked. A figure appeared at the base of the stairs, and Ace watched as her brother slowly came into sight. Upon his back he was carrying an angry looking Nami, she held on with one arm around her neck while the other was outstretched holding a long pole.

Luffy laughed all the way up.

"Oi! Ace!" Luffy called as he neared his sister, "You'll never believe what happened to Nami!" He stood a couple of steps below her so that he was eye level. "Nami was-"

"Sorry Luffy," Ace said gently as she raised her hand, "Please tell me once we return to Sunny Gou. Their letting people go back on soon."

Luffy bent slightly letting Nami off, she looked fusing than she frowned and gazed over to Ace who smiled sweetly to her.

"Really?" Luffy asked as he glanced towards the gates, he could not see them what knew they were there, "Has it really been a day?"

"Yes." Ace said brightly as she stood and jumped down the few steps to Luffy.

"Wait a minute." Nami said before they could walk off, "Ace, did you just say 'once _we_ return to Sunny'? As in you're coming with us?"

"Yes, we were just talking about it." Ace said with a smile and glanced towards Luffy's confused face before looking back at Nami, "Me and Lu here have chosen to break our vow of brotherhood and make a new vow. Right Luffy."

"Huh? ...new vow?" Luffy said looking a little green at the thought to the broken one, "Wait, our vow with Sabo is-"

"Luffy I explain this already." Ace smiled at him almost feeling for confusion him like this...almost. "Our vow with Sabo can _never_ be broken, we are renewing our vows to something different!"

"Oh I see." Luffy said relaxing greatly, his smile came back of his lips, "So Ace is coming with us?" He asked with a blinked as looked towards Nami and then Ace.

"Yes. We are always going to be together from now on." Ace said firmly as gazed over to Nami waiting for her to say anything.

"What's vow called?" Nami asked as she let Ace's gaze, she crossed her arms over her chest. She could tell that Luffy had not been paying the slightest bit notice to whatever Ace had said, and wanted to make sure Luffy did not get hurt.

"Courtship." Ace said simply with a grin, "Right Luffy! Er...Luffy?"

The rubberman had moved away from the women and was staring at the shadows of the tree laughing madly.

"Are you sure?" Nami asked with a sigh.

Ace only smiled as she watched with soft eyes, the one she fallen in love with.


	7. Your Feelings?

Luffy glanced around the large room. It was the captain's room but he had never once slept in it, choosing rather to sleep in the men's dorms. Luffy watched as Franky lifted up a heavy-looking box and start carrying it out of the room; the cyborg looked pleased that his captain was finally using the room for what it was designed for.

The room was simply; as anyone walked through the double doors they would see a large desk and chair; behind the chair was a wall that had two giant windows either side and thick windowsills. On their right was a wooden frame that had a king's size mattress fixed in, at the base of the frame was a tiny walkway with a door in the wall, this lead to a washroom. To the left was build in closets and large empty bookshelves. The place was bare,

"Wow! This bed is great!" Ace said as she bounced lightly as she sat bed, "This whole room is amazing, there is a lot of space for us to put things in!"

Luffy allowed a grin to appear as he gazes over at Ace's small bag which had all his belongings in. He ran forward and tackled Ace down on the bed laughing madly as he saddled her stomach and held her hands beside her head; he blinked at this then frown, Ace should be able to escape his grip easily.

"Don't want to play?" Luffy asked leaning for and placed his forehead on hers, Ace had her eyes closed and just letting him hold her down.

"Maybe later Luffy..." Ace said softy as she lay there unmoving, "Just let me settle and I will play later..."

"How boring!" Luffy replies with a pout as he removes his head and sits up staring down at her, "I want to play with you now!"

"Luffy I will play later...perhaps when no one else is in the room with us." Ace said with a hint of firmness, one that told Luffy to stop now.

"Right..." Luffy moaned out as he swung his leg around and got off of Ace then stood, "Oi Robin what are you doing in here anyway? I thought you wanted to read those new books you just bought."

The flower woman stepped out of the darkness corner of the room and smiled at her captain, with smile widen as she saw that Ace was glaring at her from where she lay.

"My apologies captain." Robin says with a bit of laugher in her voice and not sounding very sorry at all, "but Nami has informed me that we are leaving the harbour soon, we need you on deck."

"Nami does?" Luffy asks as he suddenly brightens and rushes for the door, "Right! Come on Ace! Robin! Here we go!" He disappeared through the doorway, shouting loudly all the way.

"I do not think I introduce myself properly to you," Ace said as she sat up and quickly stood, "I am-"

"You do not need an introduce yourself," Robin says with a strange smile, "I know who you are and what you want with my captain." the flower woman came closer to the firewoman, "Your actions could hurt him should you realize you made a mistake," Cold blue eyes narrowed into hard brown ones, "Perhaps to should return as a man and see if these feeling you have are correct and you are not confusing your emotions now that you're a woman."

Ace was flaring up and was about to give the older woman a piece of her mind when she suddenly became flower blossom and flew away by some unfelt wind.

"I know my own feeling!" Ace hissed as the blossom left the room, "I had two years to sort them out!"


	8. Tied Down?

"Giving gifts is part of courtship?" Luffy asks as he blinks down at a small notebook Robin gave him, the woman had been acting strangely since Ace joined but said nothing about this matter.

"Yes," Robin says with a small nod smiling gently at him, "Courtship comes in view of marriage. If you are courting someone, this means you want to be with that person for the rest of your life."

"Mmmmm." Luffy hums at her words as he stares down at the deck where Ace was sunbathing with Nami and Usopp, "So what is the book for?"

"Ace may be confusing his brotherly love for true love," Robin answers as she folds her arms on the railing and also watches Ace below. Laughter was heard and Chopper came out of nowhere and jumped on Usopp's belly startling the long nose man.

Both captain and historian followed the marksman and doctor with their eyes as the pair ran around the grassy deck of Sunny.

"Ace is confused?" Luffy hums out thinking upon this, "What can I do for him?"

"Like I said, buy him gifts." Robin replies smiles at her captain, "Sorry... I mean buy _her_ gifts. It is common for the man to buy a gift for his maiden. If Ace's heart is right, she in love deeper in love with you with each gift."

"And the book?" Luffy asks again holding it up to her the thing she had given him a few minutes ago.

"Write down the things you know Ace would want." Robin answers as she cast her eyes upon Ace once more, "Then give the gift at the end of every time you do something as a couple."

"Robin... you said something about marriage right?" Luffy says thinking about something, "Hancock kept asking for me to marry her, but I thought I would have to be tied down to do that. How am I going to be Pirate King if I'm tied down?"

"Tied down?" Robin said as she covered her mouth with her hand coughing there to hide her laugh, "Who told you this?"

"I remember someone saying..." Luffy says as he frowns deeply, "But I didn't want to marry Hancock anyway. She was a weirdo half the time... but she made good sea king stew!"

"Is that so?" Robin says while smiling to her captain, "Seems Ace has noticed we have."

Luffy hopped onto the railing and sat crossed legged as he glanced down; Ace was staring up one hand over her forehead keeping the sun out of her eyes. Luffy grins and gives her a big wave, using his whole arm to make the gesture.

"We'll talk fully about marriage later," She says, "And Luffy, remember try not to full in love until you confirm Ace's feeling." Robin reminds him the whole point of their little talk that they started with, "You'll get hurt if Ace discovers she wants to become a he once again."

"Got it." Luffy says in understanding and pocketed the notebook, "Every time me and Ace do something fun together I have to give a memorable gift... yeah, that right." He nods to himself and then grins at Robin, "It will be alright Robin, I'll love Ace even if she doesn't love me."

"That's not what I meant but anyway; I wrote it down in the back page of the book in case you forget," Robin tells as she straightens herself.

" _Shishishi_ ~ Thanks, Robin!" Luffy says as he waves her off, the flower woman disappears in a puff of flowers just as Ace finishes climbing the stairs to them. "HI ACE!"


	9. Now Is The Time!

Luffy ran along the corridor of the marine base, laughing madly as he went. Besides him was a grinning Ace, she kept glancing over her shoulder at the forty-plus marines that was chasing them. Luffy and Ace needed to find an exit and fast, it had already been ten minutes since Sanji called on the baby den-den informing them that his group had gotten Sunny out of the locked-down docks.

'This is fun!' Luffy thinks as he hears the bullets whizzing past his ears, 'This would be a great time to give Ace the gift!'

Luffy reached down into his pocket and touches lightly over the glass that was there, he has gotten the thing on the last island they had stopped on and kept it in his pocket since that day; there had been a lot of fun times over the week but there never seemed to be just the two of them.

Suddenly fire swirled around in front of his eyes and blinking he turns his head slightly, Ace's arms was alight with frames. Heat surrounded him but oddly enough it felt very nice against his skin which was rare; he hated the heat or the sun, loved the cold and the winter.

"Feels nice!" Luffy calls out to Ace with a bold grin.

"Good!" Ace shouts back as halts turning her body around with a fist full of fire and sent a ball of fire flying down the corridor, hitting the marines there. Screams of pain filled the air as the fire burned and melted their flesh apart.

"Oi! Ace!" Luffy says loudly as he comes back and watches the marines dropping on the ground and rolling along wildly, "I have a gift for you!"

"Really?" Ace asks in surprise as she faces him, as he came closer she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, even as a woman Ace was still slightly taller than Luffy, "What you get me, Lu?"

"Robin said that man got to get their woman gifts during courtship," Luffy says as he stuck his hand back into his pocket.

"Did she?" Ace said with a smile, "So in honour on our courtship, you gotten me a gift?"

"YES!" Luffy answers with a happy laugh, he pulls the small object up of his pocket and closed fist he hands it over.

Ace held out her hands under Luffy fist and he drops the object in there. There a marine jump up of the flames and ran at them with a sword; Luffy punches out with his other fist hitting the marine in the face and making him spin in mid-jump. The marine lands with a heavy thump as Ace holds up her gift to the light of the fire.

"A shot glass." Ace says with a grin; it was a thick glass with white fostered white within that was flower of some kind that had fire burning around it, "It is lovely Luffy, I'll think of you every time I get drunk."

"Great!" Luffy said pleased that Ace was happy, "Let's go!"

Together the two D carriers ran down the long corridor, Luffy was watching Ace out of the corner of his eye while she was still holding the gift out in front looking at it over as she went. Soon they came to a door and Luffy kicked at it breaking it down and ran into the open docks with Ace close behind. He blinks as he stares at the hundred marines that were waiting for them on the other side.

" _Shishishishi_." Luffy laughs and he creaks his knuckles.

"This should be fun." Ace says with a smirk as she carefully wraps her gift with a handkerchief and places it in her pocket, "You really want to start something with us?"

The marines in hearing distance began to shake as the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and their newest member slowly stalked towards them.

"It's a carnation." Luffy suddenly said aloud causing the marines to look at him in confusion.

"Oh! I see now." Ace replies still with that evil smirk gracing her lips.


	10. The Book

Usopp held up the little notebook, staring at it in pity; the pages were starting to wriggle with whatever drink someone spilled on it, ring marks on the back and front showing that they used it for a coaster, greasy finger marks sprained the pages telling him with this person was eating something when turning.

The marksman opened it up carefully and read the contains, it was surprisingly neat handwriting.

"Wonder who's this belong to?" Usopp says to himself as he continues to search through the pages, "Can't be Luffy even with the damage, I doubt he knows what half these long words mean."

Usopp turned to the next few pages frowning at what was written.

"Nami's or Robin's?" Usopp asks aloud, some of the things could be used for women, "But there is no way the girls would leave their book in this state..."

Usopp walks across the deck and looks to see who was the nearest to him, Zoro was sleeping by the railing and Franky was at the helm. He shook his head 'no' at them.

"Zoro wouldn't write this stuff," Usopp tells himself as he walks towards the stairs now, "Nor would Franky... Franky would have his name all over it."

The older man sighed his name whenever he finishes anything written, a habit that came from his design works he always made should his name was at the bottom.

At the top of the stairs Usopp watches as Chopper trots along with Brook, laughing at whenever the skeleton said. The marksman stared at the pair for a moment and then starts making his way down.

"Chopper...? No way in hell." Usopp says firmly as his eyes focused now on the ship's musician, "Brook? Maybe...I did see something about women's underwear. But Brook would have kept it in his skull."

"NAMI-SWAN! ROBIN-CWAN!" The ship's chef screams out as he dances forward the two women having a picnic on the grassy deck. "Have is for wine! Sorry to keep my ladies waiting!"

Usopp stares at Sanji; Nami was saying something to him which made him swirl around. Robin smiled at the blonde as she sipped her wine.

"Sanji would make sense." Usopp says in a low voice as he walks closer to return the book, "He works in the kitchen all day, so it is bound to get stuff on it."

"ACE-HIME!" Sanji suddenly shouts with hearts in his eyes as he spins over to the former man, "What can I get for you?"

"Thank you very much," Ace says smile polity with a small bow, "But there is nothing I want right now, should I need anything I'll be sure to call you."

"Ah! Hime! Your beauty knows no-"

"You know Ace was a man right?" Luffy suddenly says cutting off Sanji as he appears from behind the firewoman.

"..." Sanji glares at his captain and tuts, "I know this, but that does not change the fact that Ace has become a beautiful pirate princess."

"Oi Ace?" Luffy says coming around completely almost standing between Sanji and Ace, "Do you want to be called pirate princess?"

"No, not really." Ace admits while smiling brightly at her 'little brother' now 'betrothed', not noticing that Sanji's face had fell, "...Maybe queen a little later on..."

"Queen?" Luffy asks wiggles his nose as he frowns, "You're not trying to outdo me are you Ace?"

"A queen is the wife of the king." Ace replies her smiling widening, almost like she was waiting for this moment, "When you become Pirate King, I'll become your queen once we wed."

Luffy blinks at these words, his face completely blank. Sanji was watching with a sour look, while both Nami and Robin had their heads down but were looking at the pair out of the corner of their eyes. Usopp stood watching there he was.

"Oh...?" Luffy says at last then grins so wide that his eyes close, "Well I'm on helm next!" Luffy ran off towards the stairs calling out to Franky.

"I bet its Ace's." Usopp said at last when the straw hat was out of view, "This has information about women's cycles, bet it's two years old or something, with this much damage. And... Ace may be polite but she has table manners that rival even Luffy's"

Usopp follows Ace as she makes her way down to the aquarium room. Sanji had gone back to the kitchen, Nami and Robin had started talking together.

"Yo Ace!" Usopp calls as he reaches the bottom, the former Whitebeard Pirate turns and on seeing who it was smiling. "I found your book. Here."

Ace reaches out for the small notebook and recognizes it as the one Luffy had been writing in for the past couple of weeks.

"Thank you." Ace says softy not taking her eyes away from the book which Luffy refused to let her see, "You're so kind."

"Ah, no worries." Usopp says grinning as he turns back to the stairs, "Make sure Luffy doesn't see that, he might not understand anyway."

"Will do." Ace answers as she places the book deep into her pocket promising herself to read it later.


	11. Good Time

Ace settled down into her shared bed for the night, Luffy was still on the helm and would not come until the sun was fully down. She was going to bed early because she was one of the watch first thing in the morning.

Resting against the pillow behind her back she grabs the book she throw onto the bed when she was undressing. Opening to the first few pages she smiles at Luffy's carefully written words, a flash of pain ran through her heart as she remembers Sabo tirelessly taught Luffy reading, writing, and spelling.

"Wonder what he'd say if he saw him now?" Ace mumbles out dryly frowning slightly, then she suddenly smiles as she turns the pages. Sabo also taught Luffy how to research, and it seemed he was looking upon women.

Ace could not can the smile off of her face, it was nice that he had gone out of his way to think of doing this.

Ace laughs out loud at some of the words Luffy used, knowing that he would never speak them himself; "He properly thinks that you only used these words for writing." She mutters as she shakes her head.

"Hmmm?" Ace hums as she notices over the pages a list of ideas for gifts. "Wonder where he got the idea from? That men had to give gifts to women...the research on women I understand, that's how Sabo taught him.. but no one shown Luffy how to treat a woman."

Ace carries on turning to small pages reading through, uncaring about the mess it was in, Luffy was not one to respect a book on matter how many times Sabo told him off for eating over them. Ace blinks back tears at the memory; one thing she learnt during her time as a woman, was that she was much more emotional than ever as he.

"What the?" Ace says as she pulls the book closer to her face as she spotted the next gift Luffy was going to give her; he seemed to be planning on giving them to her whenever they had a fun time alone together, which was rare on this ship.

"Mmmmmm..." Ace hums out as she thought about the next gift, "I doubt he bought it yet, he kept the shot glass in his pocket the whole time so I'm guessing he is going to do the same again... so this would show if he had it with him."

Ace sits up and gazes around the room wondering if he did have the gift and hidden here. Quickly getting up she drops the book back on the bed and walks over to the middle of the room.

"He could have hidden it somewhere here..." Ace says with a grin as she carefully looks, they did not many things up or around the room; the main thing they had were their clothes, Ace brought a book a few docks back and it sat alone on the bookshelf. Luffy had pinned all their wanted posters along the walls.

"...maybe somewhere else on the ship?" Ace mumbles as she moves over to the deck and pulls the chair out from under, taking a seat. She eyed up her shot glass, it was very well made and must have cost Luffy a lot of money. "Where did he get the money from? Nami does not seem like the type to give it away on random items."

Ace leaned back on the chair wanting her gift now; as strange as it sounded it was the only way she knew that Luffy cared about this whole courtship vow. The little book, however, made her feel a lot better about everything.

"Wait!" Ace says suddenly sitting up and slamming her hands on the deck, "A good time! That's it! Luffy is only giving me gifts when we're having a good time!"

Standing she grins evilly thinking of a way to made Luffy feel like they had a good time together enough to give her the gift. Luffy was always a happy person and found much delight in the company of others, so she had to do something extra to really made him feel like they were having a good time together.


	12. Fight!

Luffy walks into the captain's room and blinks noticing right away that Ace was nowhere to be seen. Frowning as he remembers hearing her saying that she was going a bed early tonight; he glances over to the bed and finds her not there.

Walking further into the room he suddenly lands face-first into the floor, with a heavy something on his back. Grinning against the flooring he does a quick push up sending the attacker up, he hears feet land almost silently.

Turning he grins at a smirking Ace she clearly wanted to play fight. Rushing at her he pushes out at her face to which she blocks and forces the fist away. Backstepping Luffy perhaps to strike out with his fist, but Ace darts forward and catches the hand before he could put any power behind it.

Ace laughs softy as she grips tightly on Luffy's arm, he tries to move away but this time his rubbery power proved to go against him, as Ace jerks at him sending back to her. Luffy trips and falls forward right into Ace.

The firewoman fell backwards with the rubberman on top, face smack between her beasts. Laughing Luffy pull himself up and looked down at Ace who was looking at him oddly, moving further away he jumps and back stepped once more, this time around getting out of reach.

Ace leans backwards and putting her arms beside her head, she flapped up onto her feet. No longer was she smiling or laughing. Luffy grinned madly at her daring her to come forwards; then she marched with her fists at her sides readying for an attack.

Luffy blinks and that was all Ace needed to disappear from his sight; turning to the right quickly he crossed his arms over his head as a foot came to be in the middle. Pushing her off, he watches as she spun backwards and lands kneeing over, with one arm in front holding her up while the other was out behind keeping her balanced.

Suddenly the pair rushes to the centre of the room at the same time, throwing their punches and blocking the oncoming ones so fast that it became a blur.

Then it all stopped; Luffy had caught both of Ace's wrists. He grins boldly at her, while she stares in surprise. Ace kicked out at his let causing his leg to buckle and wobbly he went backwards. Now Ace was on top of him while he was under.

Luffy laughs as he waits for her to leap off and continue, however Ace never moves. Instead, she sits upon him staring down at him with amusement. Luffy tilts his head where he was on the floor, making his hat come off; he sat up and Ace still did not move, they bumped noses causing him to laugh loudly.

"Ace?" Luffy asks with a small laugh now as he at last lets go of her wrists he had been holding all this time, he drops his hands on her hips, "We're not continuing?"

"No... I have to get up early," Ace says as she raises her arms up and flops them over Luffy's shoulder and links her fingers as they hung in the air. "And you're sleepy."

"Huh?" Luffy mumbles with a blink at the last part, "How do you know?"

"Knew you long enough to know when you want to sleep," Ace smirks as she pushes her nose tight against his, their breath was mixing together as they breathed. "You would never have fallen with a single kick like. Come on."

Ace unlinks her fingers and stands up, Luffy let go of her hips as she did. He quickly got to his feet and began following her over to the bed; Ace got there before him and was pulling something under her pillow.

"Oh!" Luffy suddenly says coming forward to the bed, "I got something for you!"

Ace smiles at him and moves back as he reaches for the bed, or rather the mattress, lifting it up he pulls out a long pole. Luffy drops the mattress, turning he handed the pole over the Ace.

"Don't what I was expecting." Ace says as she takes the metal pole off him and held it upright setting the bottom down onto the floor. It was crafted with three stems twisting around with many bell-like flowers coming out of them. At the very top was a ruby encased with metal that went into a point. The bottom also at a heavy point keeping the weight level.

"Like?" Luffy asks grinning as he stares at the pole as well, "Look at the casing around the ruby."

Ace lowers it slightly, the ruby had three metals around it keeping it in place; in the middle was a letter crafted in with a round bolder. Ace felt her heartthrob at the first letter she came to, already knowing what the other two letters would be.

"'A' 'S' 'L'" Luffy says as he watches her turning the pole in her hands.

"Great..." Ace answers blinking fast unwilling to cry in front of her old little brother, now her future husband... hopefully.


	13. Understanding Nothing!

Luffy gazes up at the night's sky, the stars were bright lights shining like fireflies. Their light shone down upon the water's surface making it aglow. He grins as he glances around at the sea, he saw no ships.

'Wonder how Ace is doing without me?' Luffy thinks as he breaths out, white vapour appeared. This was the first time he was on the watch in the middle of the night since they started sharing the room together; before then he was at the start and end of the end. 'Sure she is alright.'

Luffy blinks at these thoughts. He has called Ace 'she' without getting confused, some times when thinking he still called a 'he' but now it was getting more and more common for him to think Ace as a 'she'.

'…...will Ace want to be a man again one day?' Luffy thought as he watches the sea, he pulls his legs to him and wrapped his arms around them; he was sitting outside on top of the Crow's Nest instead of inside in the warm. They were coming close to a Winter Island which he looking forward to, he loved the snow.

"...Ace..." Luffy says his beloved brother's name, only now that name was changing it's meaning for him; maybe this Ace he knew did die that day.

"Yes?" Ace's voice came from behind sounding amused, "How long have you known that I was here?"

"..." Luffy blinks and turns to see the person of his thoughts, "Ace...you should be sleeping."

"Can't sleep. I would have thought you were trying to get into the kitchen and try to pick the lock again," Ace says as she slid over to him and wraps her arms around him, placing her hands over his. "You're a bit slow on the uptake. Makes me worry."

"Worry? I'm strong, Sanji's kicks don't hurt me." Luffy replies with a bit of a pout, Ace had treated his a little differently after that bear attack when they were younger. Not that he minded, he loved being fussed over by his big brother, however other times it was a little over the top.

"I know...And what have I told you about coming out in the cold without a coat on?" Ace says with a deep frown, she began to heat the air around them as her body began a flame.

"..." Luffy closes his eyes against the warmth Ace was making, "Ace, I'm twenty now. I think I can make my own choices and do what I want."

"Who told you to say that?" Ace says as she leans forwards and pushes her cheek against his.

"Zoro and Usopp mentioned it." Luffy answers knowing that there was no point in lying since he was not very good, "Zoro thinks that you're mothering me and Usopp said you can be overbearing at times."

The flames around him began larger, still, they did not hurt him. They were silent for a time until he felt Ace's jaw open and close, then open again.

"...And what do you think?" Ace asks her voice was oddly low and was losing it's confident it always carried.

"Huh? About what?" Luffy asks as he opens his eyes.

"You much feel the same way," Ace says her voice was tiny now, "for you to say 'I can make my own choices', right?"

"...mmmm..." Luffy hums out as he feels her hands pull away from his, she tucked them through his tights and placed them on his stomach. "I don't care much, Ace is just being Ace. There are times when you are over the top, but I just wanted to see how you would react to what the others said. That's why I said that thing."

"You wanted a rise out of me?!" Ace asks sounding shocked at Luffy admitting this. "Why?"

"I don't know..." Luffy says as he rubs his temple with his finger, "Strange..." he tilts his head trying to think why he was saying this.

"Mmmm..." Ace hums as she pulls him closer to her, "Could it be... you're testing me? Seeing what you can get away with?"

"Huh?" Luffy blinks not understanding her at all, "Why would I do that?"

"Perhaps Lu, that you are not seeing as your brother any more." Ace says while closing her eyes, "Are you seeing me as a woman?"

"Seeing you as a woman?" Luffy asks with a pout, "Of course I see you as a woman, those things on your chest are a little hard to miss."

"I mean as your woman." Ace says with a snort and cuddles him more, "There is a difference when a brother fusses over a man, then when his woman does."

"Is there?" Luffy asks as he blinks at the night's sky, "... why didn't I notice?"

"You are," Ace said grinning boldly, "You are just becoming aware of it."

"..." Luffy just blinks at the beautiful dark world around them, this whole courtship thing was weird. Still, he should just trust Ace's words, "Ace I have a gift for you."

"Mmmm." Ace hums lightly as she lazily opens her eyes, she tried to think back to Luffy's list. The pole thing caught her by surprise because she read it wrong...or he has chosen to give her something else.

Moving he straighten out his legs in right of him, then Luffy digs into his pockets, causing Ace to bite her lip as she tries not to laugh knowing that this was what she thought she was getting the last time. Pulling out some clothing he began to unfold it in on his lap.

Women undergarments, the bottom half.

"I noticed that you have the tops but none of the bottoms part." Luffy says seemingly proud of himself as he continues to unfold some more, "I asked Nami to sew and print some stuff on them."

Ace reaches down and takes hold of the first one she grabs, with still Luffy sitting in front of her she had to hold it near to his face. The knickers were red with a yellow sunflower at the front, turning the back her eyes widen at the print that was there.

"I don't think Pops will appreciate having his mark on my backside." Ace says at last as it stares at the Whitebeard Pirate mark at the rear of the knickers.

"Why not? Look I have with my mark," Luffy says getting excited in showing them off, "But Nami put my mark at the front for a reason."

"Really?" Ace asks as he takes the one with the Straw Hat Pirate mark at the front then turns it round to found a circle with the words 'Captain's Property' written in bold letters. She places that one down and held up another, this was a map drew all around with the front having the 'x' marks the spot cross on it and a little Straw Hat Pirate mark above. Another he shows had both Whitebeard's mark and Luffy's... on each bum cheek.

"What do you think?" Luffy asks as he twists his neck around to see her face, "The map was my idea!"

'Carnations on the shot glass, lily of the valley on the pole and now sunflowers.' Ace thinks as she stares thoughtfully at the knickers. Then commented on her thoughts by point to the knickers, "All of them have some flowers on them in one way or another."

"Yeah!" Luffy grins, "My idea as well! Every gift has a flower on it! Because girls like flowers!"

"Luffy..." Ace breaths out as she stares at the undergarments, "Thanks for putting so much thought into this, did you give yourself a fever?"

"Yes." Luffy answers honesty with a pout, "But you're worth it!"


	14. It Starts

Luffy lay upon his bed, front down with his little book on his pillow; he re-read some of the points he noted before and pondered deeply over these. Suddenly the whole ship rocked violently, causing him to roll sideways, the mattress was embedded deep into the frame but this also blocked anyone from falling.

Blinking Luffy leaps up, running to the door and out of it, rushing towards the main deck.

"SANJI!" Luffy roars as he came out and twists his body to look upwards towards the kitchen door. The blonde chef hurries out of the open door and leans over the rail.

"Oi! What is it? What's wrong?!" Sanji calls down, waiting for his captain to answer.

"Is our lunch safe?!" Luffy replies loudly as he cups his hands over his mouth, even from where he stood Luffy could see a vein appearing on the chef's temple.

"Never mind that!" Sanji screams back, he always made sure the food was safe during any strange turns on Sunny, "What the _hell_ caused the rocking?! IS Nami-swan, Robin-cwan and Ace-hime safe?!"

"Huh?" Luffy says blinking dully at him while letting his arms flop to his side, then turned. He heard hear the sound of Zoro's swords striking something, grinning he starts running over the grassy deck, heading towards the source of the noise.

Bouncing up the staircase he hears the battle cry of his brother come sister come...his woman; as he reaches the top he stares blankly at the scene before him. Before clapping wildly and cheering.

Ace and Zoro were duelling it out.

Luffy grins some more when he notices that she was using the pole he had given her, and was doing well against Zoro; then he frowns. Ace had an odd glint in her eye, one he knew from when she was fighting seriously. Zoro had his teeth gritted hard on his sword in his mouth, he appeared to be wanted to fight but was holding back for some reason.

"Luffy!" Nami cries out at the sight of him, she rushes over to him half bent over as she ran, "Stop Ace!" she hisses when reaching him, she ducks down behind him.

"Huh? Why? They're just playing?" Luffy says while pouting.

"What? No! Ace is-" Nami starts but was cut off when Ace suddenly appears in front of them, fire wrapping around her form, her eyes were now a weird orangey glow as she looked upon them in pure rage.

Luffy blinks at Ace, tilting is head slightly in confusion. He tried to think of when she had even been this angry.

"Luffy! _Do something_!" Nami screams in his ear, her fingernails dug into his rubbery flesh as she gripped onto his shoulder from behind.

"How dare you..." Ace hisses darkly, raising her pole above her head with both hands, "Touch my..." she swung it in a downward motion, "...Luffy!" Luffy caught the pole in one hand with ease, stopping it from crushing Nami's skull.

Grinning the rubbery man forces it to one side, making the firewoman blinks as she went with it, then he pulls it to him, readying his free hand into a fist for a punch.

Two things happened at once.

Ace loses her balance and stumbles forward, and Nami seeing what Luffy was around to do, grabbed the back of his neck and pushes it with all her might. The end result was Luffy's and Ace's lips smacking together awkwardly.

Stunned the fire dies down around Ace, seemingly coming to her senses as she stares into Luffy's black orbs and felt his rubber lips on hers. The Straw-Hat captain did not appear to be backing down soon, believing this was now a staring contest; this gave Ace the chance to move her lips in a more comfortable manner.

Turning completely red in the face, and all the way to her chest, Ace moves back slightly then spins around dropping her pole as she did. Falling to her knees she held her cheeks with both hands, disbelief written in her eyes.

"Yay!" Luffy cries out with a laugh, "I won!"

"Really..." Nami breathes out in angry, then sighs loudly letting that anger go. The crew had witnessed the events all shook their heads; Usopp came out of hiding, rushes pass a blushing Brook, and a grinning Franky. Zoro huffs and wanders back to his resting placing, flopping down he began to swear the moment he closed his eye.

"Oi...Ace...?" Luffy asks as he stares down at the woman's back, she had not gotten up to say something, "Is something wrong?" Coming to stand in front he knees down, blinking as he bends to see what was the matter.

"Hurts..." Ace suddenly says holding her lower stomach.

"Hurts?" Luffy questions blinking, he stares at the place she was holding then remembered the book he read, "Ah. It that time of the month."

A short nod confirmed this, making Luffy grin.

"Chopper can give you something for that!" Luffy explains as he reaches down places a hand round her shoulder while digging around into his pocket for his next gift, "Also here, this will make you feel better."

Ace raises her head and watches Luffy carefully; he brings out a small wooden wrist band with a flower, a pink Hydrangea, crafted into it.

"Try not to burn this!" Luffy says holding it out, then just dumps it into her hand when she held out her hand, "Also another thing that will make you better! Lunch is ready! Come on, let's go!"

With that he grabs Ace around the waist, wrapping his arm around twice over before bringing the other back and throwing it upwards towards the beams above; sighing Ace quickly slips the band onto his wrist, grabs her pole and waits.

Suddenly she was tugged backward, with a laughing Luffy in her ear, they sailed through the air until Luffy ballooned himself breaking what would have been a painful impact. Even through her pain, she smiles at the gift.


	15. Fired Up!

Luffy yawns loudly, behind him in the Crow's Nest slash Library Nami sits staring at him; she had wanted to speak to him all during lunch and dinner, but somehow the rubberman kept disappearing on her.

"Luffy," Nami starts standing and coming up behind him, blinking he turns away from the window to stare at her, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's up?" Luffy asks grinning to his orange-haired navigator.

"Its about what happened today... with Ace." Nami says glancing towards the entrance, making sure the fire starter would do come in unannounced, she did lock it however Ace seemed to pick the locks.

"Mm? What happened today?" Luffy asks grin fading and a blank look appearing.

"You know about the kiss and everything... it means a lot to Ace," Nami said with a heavy sigh, she took a seat behinds her captain where he was by the window, "But it was an accident and all... I feel like it was my fault."

"Huh? Kiss?" Luffy hums tilting his head in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Ace was just stress because of her-" Nami stops chatting away and turns quickly to look at her, seeing the clueless expression upon his face she knew he had no idea; but that did not mean she was not going to try, "I know! The kiss! You and Ace put your lips together!"

"Huh? Oh!" Luffy replies grinning at her, which quickly drops, "That was a kiss... I thought those were chocolates? Or damage?"

"What?!" Nami cries out shaking a hand over her forehead, she drags it down her face and let it drop by her side, "No Luffy, a kiss is something shared between a couple, like with you and Ace!"

"I thought that was called a 'snog'," Luffy said with a laugh, "So~ Ace and I kissed?!"

"You gave her a gift," Nami says in an almost depreciate plea for him to make sense, "Meaning you wanted a meaning or happy, whatever Robin told you!"

"I only gave that because Ace was in hurt," Luffy explains grinning, "Think her mind on something else until Chopper saw her, I asked Ace about it once; Ace said that bloody day is worst than getting a kick in th-"

Nami hands came up and covered his mouth, not wanted him to finish that last sentence. Blinking at her, he laughs loudly at her blushing face.

A click was heard, which was followed by the door opening. The pair turns and sees a miserable looking Ace stalking into the room. She pauses when she saw them together, looking from one to the other.

"Ace!" Luffy says loudly as he breaks away from Nami, pleased to see her.

"Luffy..." Ace growls out as she comes towards, now eyeing up a still red-faced Nami, "What are you two up to?"

"We there talking about the snog today!" Luffy answers freely seeing nothing wrong with this. However, Nami gasps out, while Ace looks to the floor.

"Sorry about that Lu... even though I've been a woman for two years...that sort of thing.." Ace says burning up, literally; flames from her shoulders and back rose to the ceiling, causing Luffy to oh~ and ah~ at the sight. Nami looked a little panicked by the fiery display, "I still need to get used to..."

"Use to?" Luffy asks bouncing over to the firewoman, "The bloody thing or snog?"

"..." Ace whole body caught on fire, this time Luffy claps and cheers loudly. As he stops he tilts his head, Ace was not someone to get embarrassed pry shy easy. Casting his mind back to the time he has seen change a man to a woman he remembered that some other things had happened, their manner shifted.

Luffy turns to Nami and gave her a little wave, she frowns for a moment then realized that he wanted them to be left alone. Hurrying over to the exit she went out and closed the door behind.

"Ace is still Ace right?" Luffy asked when Nami had gone; Ace raised her head and stare at the man she had come to love more than anyone is the world.

"...of course." Ace answers slowly, the heat lessening around her form, "Why would you ask that?"

"Sometimes Ace behaves differently," Luffy said coming to stand in front of the woman, "Sometimes Ace does something that he would not normally do."

"Things have changed Lu," Ace says gently smiling at him, "But that does not mean I have changed at my core, I'm still me. My emotions are a little heighten now, I act more to them now. Just think of it as a small side effect."

"Mmm..." Luffy hums coming right into her face, "Ace is still Ace."

"Yeah. Got any problems with that?" Ace asks smirking an old smirk, a challenge dancing in her eyes daring him to take her up on it and see what happens.

"None!" Luffy declares with a grin, going in for a big hug. Ace smiles and hugs him back, she knocks his straw hat off with her chin and places her cheek in his hair.


End file.
